Five More Week 5 Storylines
Teddy Bridgewater finally throws some passes down the field. Bridgewater ripped what had been looking like a sneaky-good Bucs defense for 314 yards and four scores. The former was a new career high, while the latter matched his personal best. Bridgewater’s day got off to a shaky start with his pick, where he targeted Alvin Kamara in too tight of coverage and the ball was batted up into the air. After that, Bridgewater was a different player than he was in Weeks 2-4, going 5-of-5 for 155 yards and a touchdown on passes that traveled at least 15 yards in the air. It was an excellent Drew Brees impression, as Bridgewater relentlessly targeted Michael Thomas and consistently found the cushions between different levels of the defense. For his biggest play, Bridgewater climbed the pocket on his 33-yard touchdown strike to Ted Ginn. Bridgewater’s Week 6 streaming viability will depend on Jalen Ramsey’s (back) availability for the Jaguars.
D.J. Chark breaks all the way out against Panthers. Chark was already killing it heading into Week 5, averaging 5/80 while scoring in 3-of-4 games. In Carolina, he became undeniable, hauling in 8-of-11 targets for 164 yards and his fourth and fifth touchdowns. Completely absent from summer hype manifestos, Chark now sits as the WR2 in standard and WR4 in PPR. He’s done all this with a rookie sixth-round rookie at quarterback. Although Gardner Minshew is also doing an excellent job involving Dede Westbrook and Chris Conley, he has made it clear that Chark is his preferred target, feeding him looks at every level of the field. A big-play threat maturing at the other aspects of the game, Chark is here to stay as a top-24 fantasy wideout, and could even crash the top-12 party.
Giants lose Saquon Barkley fill-in Wayne Gallman to concussion. Gallman made it just two carries before going down in the G-Men’s eventual loss to the Vikings. Off-the-map UDFA Jonathan Hilliman was forced to “carry the load” in Gallman’s absence, though that amounted to just 10 touches. Gallman’s loss puts the attention squarely on Barkley. Originally slapped with a 6-8 week timeline upon going down in Week 3, Barkley is making a real push to return for Thursday’s game against the Patriots. That would be glorious for the Giants but also an extreme risk for a game that’s frankly not winnable. Week 7 vs. the Cardinals remain the more realistic and safer return date, and would still represent a lightning-quick recovery from a high-ankle sprain. We will get our first Barkley practice update later this afternoon.
Tom Brady begins to look his age. One reason you might want to be concerned about Brady? The Sports Guy is worried. “It’s always tough to judge Brady when his offensive line is playing poorly but he’s had six ‘Uh oh he looks 42’ plays in this game already,” were the words of Bill Simmons on Sunday. If Brady is losing Simmons … well you connect the dots. Playing the world’s softest schedule, Brady’s 7.5 YPA looks a bit pedestrian, as does his 10 touchdowns. He’s yet to get Josh Gordon going as the Pats average 28 rushes per game. A full summer fade in fantasy drafts, Brady is the QB10 by average points. Again, this is during the “FCS Miami” portion of the Patriots’ schedule. Of course, that continues for the next two weeks in the Giants and Jets. Either way, if you adopted the contrarian August view of Brady and drafted him, there has never been a better time to cash in on his name recognition on the trade market.
It continues not to happen for David Montgomery. With his workloads trending in the right direction, “vs. OAK” looked like the perfect spot for Montgomery to finally pop off. With backup quarterback Chase Daniel under center, he did the opposite, handling only 12 touches and generating 36 yards. It was Montgomery’s worst performance of the season and most lightly used one since Week 1. With the Bears struggling to run block, limited-athlete Montgomery is averaging 3.3 yards per carry. His nine receptions is the most disappointing total of all after coach Matt Nagy couldn’t stop comparing him to Kareem Hunt during the offseason. When the Bears come off bye in Week 7, it will be against a Saints Defense fresh off eliminating the Cowboys and Bucs. With a string of more good defenses on tap after that, selling low might not be the worst idea.
Questions
1. How long is Andy Dalton prepared to sit on the Eli Manning throne?
2. So is Kyle Allen still better than Cam Newton?
3. The Chargers … how do you keep doing this?
Early Waiver Look (Players owned in less than 50 percent of Yahoo leagues)
QB: Cam Newton (out for Week 6), Kirk Cousins (vs. PHI), Gardner Minshew (vs. NO), Sam Darnold (vs. DAL), Josh Rosen (vs. WAS)
RB: Adrian Peterson, Alexander Mattison, Ito Smith, Jamaal Williams, Ty Montgomery (Sam Darnold returning), Chase Edmonds
WR: Preston Williams, Diontae Johnson, Dante Pettis, Deebo Samuel, Jamison Crowder, Mohamed Sanu
TE: Chris Herndon, Hunter Henry, Gerald Everett, Trey Burton, Jack Doyle, Ben Watson
DEF: Panthers (vs. TB), Dolphins (vs. WAS), Broncos (vs. TEN), Redskins (@MIA)
Stats of the Week
Austin Ekeler’s 15 receptions against the Broncos were tied for the second most ever by a running back. Even with Melvin Gordon back, Ekeler will remain FLEX viable, and perhaps even RB2 viable in PPR.
35-14. Damien Williams ran up the snap count score on LeSean McCoy, who was on the field for as many plays as Darrel Williams. Time to reassess … again.
Adam Levitan lays it out re: Michael Gallup’s return from knee surgery: 61-of-71 snaps, 7-of-14 for 113 yards and a touchdown and a 32.5 percent target share.
Golden Tate ran 28 of his routes in the slot compared to just 11 for Sterling Shepard. If that’s how the Giants plan to play it going forward, it could make them worse. Tate did not appear to have much left in 2018.
0. That’s how many Jameis Winston turnovers went in the box score. Winston had picks undone by delay of game (lol) and defensive holding. He also committed a fumble that the Bucs recovered.
Per JJ Zachariason: Three quarterbacks have scored at least 16 fantasy points each time out this season. Patrick Mahomes, Kyler Murray and … Gardner Minshew.
Awards Section
Week 5 Fantasy All-Pro Team: QB Deshaun Watson, RB Christian McCaffrey, RB Aaron Jones, WR Will Fuller, WR Michael Thomas, WR D.J. Chark, TE Gerald Everett
Tweet of the Week, from Gregg Rosenthal: Looking for rhythm on offense? Play the Falcons.
The Most Redskins Firing of All Time Award: Summoning Jay Gruden to team headquarters at 5AM. You don’t have to treat people like this.
They Aren’t Trying To Do This Award: The Jets.
